Please see a second translation, by Christopher Middleton and Leticia Garza-Falcon, down in the comments. Before you curse my choice of translation although go ahead!But this, trans. The song of the rain Rippled the silence of birds in the trees.

It is as if archways of mist drank the clouds And drop by drop dissolved in the rain.Īs if children snickered in the vineyard bowers. A guard frowns as he passes with trembling steps, lightning shows his thin frame, but shadows intercept. In Karrada at night, wind and rain before dawn, when the dark is a roof or a drape never drawn. Where are those we loved, where have their dark-white camels gone? Over there, cutting through the desert haze. Ask the meadow grounds, now desolate, this question. Then I tie cowrie shells to her collar to repel the harm of evil eyes.Įach day, before I feed my family, I see that she gets our choicest meats and purest waters. I have a cat whose foot-pads I dye with henna before I put henna on my own newborns. Fondly in speech but kept hidden, protected. And my teeth like full-bodied girls - mentioned. Is the wide mouth of a red wound, untoothed. Let hazy skies rain only a sneer! Now my mouth, bared wide in a smile. I scorn delight, even the flashy grin of a pale storm-cloud. He crunched his fangs, in whose rows lurked death, Like the crunching of one shivering from the cold, Teeth chattering. Suddenly, a grey wolf! Eye-catching, forepart and ribs upturned, Limbs at his sides lanky, spindly, Dragging behind him a rope-like tail, His spine crooked, bent like a bow.Ĭreased by hunger, his resolve had hardened: Nothing but bones, spirit and hide. I brought out Colt-a stallion of brute power and pedigree. Rays lit up the sky Black night struck camp- Proof it was day. Many more Qabbani poems are available on “Poem Hunter,” although the translator is not credited (and originals not provided), which always makes one uneasy.Yes, we realize this poetry is not in proper chronological order, and that there are actually 23 poems. Like white chicks jumping from the magician’s hat. I want to travel away from the dictionary I want to write different words for you, trans.

Many are available in English translations (of varying texture and interest) online.įrom “Little Things,” translated by Bassam Frangieh and Clementina Brown:Īnd, for those who would like a more utilitarian love poem: Numerous Qabbani poems have been set to music and sung by Fairuz, Latifa, Abdel Halim Hafez, Umm Kulsoum and others.

Nonetheless, Sudanese novelist Tayeb Salih has called Qabbani-who was also an ardent supporter of (some) Arab nationalist causes-a spokesperson for a generation, as if “lovers did not learn the meaning of love until they read the poetry of Nizar Kabbani.” As Bassam Frangieh notes in his introduction to Arabian Love Poems, a collection of Qabbani’s work he co-translated with Clementina Brown, “To say that Kabbani was the most popular and famous of contemporary Arab poets is not to claim that he was the most skilled.” The Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998) was one of the most popular Arabic-language poets of the twentieth century, well-known for his focus on eroticism and love.

Arabian love poems nizar qabbani pdf